Nate gets out of a jam for the 2nd straight frame & keeps the Giants off the board!
The #Yankees still lead 2-0. pic.twitter.com/pDToGuIbh4
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2016
The New York Yankees have taken the rubber game of a three-game set with the San Francisco Giants thanks to Nathan Eovaldi’s superb outing.
- San Francisco Giants: 2 (58-40)
- New York Yankees: 5 (50-48)
- Interleague, FINAL, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
After dropping an extra-inning contest in distasteful fashion on Saturday afternoon, the New York Yankees got right back in the win column as they took the series from the San Francisco Giants with a rubber game win.
Nathan Eovaldi backed up his latest strong outing with 6.2 strong innings of two-run ball featuring six strikeouts on 118 pitches thrown (79 strikes).
This prevailing effort against San Francisco marks the first time since May 29 that Eovaldi has recorded back-to-back wins.
The Giants sent Jeff Samardzija to the hill in order to push them towards their second win in their nine-game road trip but thanks to a breakthrough for the Yankees’ lineup, he was incapable of his task.
Through 5.2 innings of work, the righty surrendered five runs on eight hits including two home runs to New York as he suffered a loss for the sixth time this season.
Nate leaves with 2 outs in the 7th after a terrific performance. @chasenshreve takes over. #LetsGoYankees pic.twitter.com/cxrcIJv4q4
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2016
Highlights:
Who else but Carlos Beltran would get it started for the Bombers? In the bottom of the first with the score sitting at an even zero, the 39-year old All-Star smacked home run number 21 over the short porch in right to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
@carlosbeltran15 le dio su jonrón #21 de la temporada y el #413 de su carrera a Jeff Samardzija. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/qkOaTQAVMh
— #DoYourJob (@renucho) July 24, 2016
With that dinger, Beltran became one of only seven hitters in all of baseball to maintain a .300 batting average to coincide with 20 doubles and 20 home runs.
The very next inning, Mark Teixeira extended his team’s lead to two by crushing his 200 home run as a member of the New York Yankees.
Teixeira became just the 17 player in the storied franchise’s history to reach the plateau and sits two home runs behind Bill Dickey and three behind Roger Maris.
It’s gotta be the cleats. https://t.co/02KSqe726O #TexMessage #LetsGoYankees pic.twitter.com/4KiujSrdh0
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2016
Despite the milestone, the shot was only the ninth home run of 2016 for the declined star which is extremely disappointing given the fact that the switch-hitter owned 24 home runs through July 24 of last season.
Both squads would exchange three innings of scoreless ball until New York blew the game relatively open.
In the bottom of the sixth, following an Aaron Hicks walk and Brett Gardner single, Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into a 4-6-3 double play which allowed Hicks to score from third.
It was just Ellsbury’s first RBI in 14 plate appearances but it gave the Yankees a 3-0. However, they weren’t quite done yet as a two-out rally was in their bones.
Later that inning, after a pair of singles by Beltran and Brian McCann, Starlin Castro ripped a single to left field which plated Beltran from third. It was Castro’s seventh RBI in his last six games and it gave New York a 4-0 lead.
A run comes in on a double play, and Starlin Castro knocks in Carlos Beltrán on an opposite-field single to put the Yankees up 4-0 on TBS.
— TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) July 24, 2016
After a Didi Gregorius ground rule double, the Yankees took a 5-0 lead which would be plenty as they made Buster Posey’s two-run single in the seventh mean nothing thanks to shut-down relief.
Chad Green made a relief appearance and was asked to take the place of “No-Runs DMC,” as they pitched a combined 52 pitches on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did he get the job done, he completed the task to perfection as he completed 2.1 scoreless innings of three-hit ball and recorded his first career save in just his third relief outing.
He did, however, get some help from an incredible 4-1-5 double play which pretty much sealed the deal.
Chad Green picks up the save thanks to some fantastic defense! https://t.co/vrGTrzq4Bd #NYYSunrunSaves pic.twitter.com/DOhabLoOGk
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2016
Ironically, “415” is the San Francisco area code which is exactly where the slumping Giants will head back to in order to put their one-win road trip in the rearview mirror.
With that, the Yankees took the series from the second-best team in the National League and finished their homestand at an impressive 6-4 while winning six of their last eight games.
#StartSpreadingTheNews! The #Yankees take the series over the Giants!
FINAL: Yankees 5, Giants 2. pic.twitter.com/Q3ppi6347b
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2016
Ballgame over, #Yankees get a 5-2 win over SF to win the series! Postgame with @boblorenz @JackCurryYES and @M_Marakovits next on YES!
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 24, 2016
What’s Next:
The Yankees will continue their stretch of must-win games against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Monday night at 8:10 PM ET on the YES Network.
Michael Pineda will get the starting nod against the Yankee killer himself, Dallas Keuchel.
In his career against New York, the lefty owns a 3-1 record along with an ERA of 1.45 in four starts. Additionally, he averages nine strikeouts per nine innings and has an opponents batting average of .178.
Pineda, who is coming off his first scoreless start of 2016, will look to rebound from his dismal start against Houston back in April when he let up six runs off eight hits in five innings.